Martyn Hett was one of the 22 people killed on 22 May 2017 while attending an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena in a heinous terrorist attack.
Since then, his mother has campaigned for a new law requiring venues with a capacity of more than 200 to have a plan in place and to be better prepared in case of a terror attack.
What is Martyn's Law?
Martyn's Law, officially the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, now sets out who is responsible for considering the risks of terrorism and how to respond to an attack at certain large premises and events.
How does it affect property owners?
The Act states that the individual or company who has 'control' of a property is considered the 'responsible person'. This, therefore, might not necessarily be the owner, but could be a tenant. It might also mean that multiple parties have a responsibility under the Act.
- A tenant who has rented a venue and carries out the business of events at the property would be considered the party in control and, therefore, has the responsibility under the Act; but
- A licensee who carries out events on an irregular basis within a property, or a space within a property, does not have direct 'control' and means the owner remains the 'responsible person'
- A tenant of a shop within a shopping centre might be the 'responsible person' for that shop, but the landlord of the shopping centre itself will be the 'responsible person' for the centre. In this scenario, both landlord and tenant would need to co-operate to ensure that all appropriate procedures are in place.
There will be different requirements for 'standard tier' properties (those which may reasonably have between 200–799 people present) and 'enhanced tier' properties (those which may have 800+ people present).
A 'responsible person' of a 'standard tier' property will need to:
- Notify the Security Industry Authority (SIA) of their premises; and
- Have in place, so far as reasonably practicable, appropriate public protection procedures.
A 'responsible person' of an 'enhanced tier' property will need to:
- Have in place, so far as reasonably practicable, appropriate public protection measures that could be expected to reduce both (i) the vulnerability of the premises or event to an act of terrorism, and (ii) the risk of physical harm being caused to individuals if an attack was to occur there or nearby
- Document the public protection procedures and measures in place, or proposed to be put in place, and provide this document to the SIA
- Where the responsible person is not an individual, they must designate a senior individual with responsibility for ensuring that the responsible person complies with these requirements.
What needs to be considered when preparing property agreements?
When it comes to preparing leases or licences for qualifying properties under the Act, careful attention will now need to be given to the allocation of the public protection procedures. This will mean identifying the 'responsible person' and whether the property in question may be used for a 'qualifying event'.
The law will have widespread consequences as any building that has more than 200 capacity will be considered a qualifying property. This will, therefore, also include offices, restaurants and gyms (to name but a few) and not just venues or shopping centres as mentioned above.
Martyn's Law received Royal Assent on 3 April 2025, but the expected implementation period will be at least 24 months before the law's provisions come into force.
It would be advisable to consider the implications now and not to delay preparing for these new requirements.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
